The first section of FieldTurf Duraspine Pro is now in place on the soccer field.

Bob Horchar, senior installer for FieldTurf, said he and his crew will spend the next two to three weeks getting every detail completed.

“We will start sewing the turf panels together, working from the south end of the stadium to the north end,” Horchar said. “After that, we will install the sidelines and the rest of the markings to the surface. That takes about four or five days to get all the soccer lines in place.”

Heavy rains and wind Tuesday evening washed away a small corner of sub-material that will need to be replaced before the final edges of the turf panel can be completed. Otherwise Horchar and his crew were unaffected by the strong storms that have hit the area over the past few days.

“Generally the weather doesn’t affect us at this point of the installation,” Horchar said. “Winds can sometimes be a problem. I’ve had turf panels move around in heavy wind, but unless we had a day we are working with electrical equipment, rain really doesn’t stop us at this point.”

A worker stretches a section of FieldTurf to make certain the seams match.

Once the lines are cut and glued in place, the infill mixture of sand and rubber pellets can be added to complete the surface installation.

Work continues on other portions of the stadium, as well. Crews were pouring cement into forms for the new stands on the west side of the complex. New restrooms are also being constructed on the south end of stands. A brand new white storage building is also nearing completion on the south end of Mud Hollow Field. This structure will be used to store soccer and track and field equipment along with any other items that might be needed as part of the new fields construction project.

Portions of the east section of Mud Hollow Field are also beginning to take shape. Landscapers will prepare that area over the next two weeks before installing new sod for the fall practice and intramural season.

If everything is able to stay on schedule, the new soccer field should be complete “green” shortly after the Fourth of July holiday.

Dump trucks came to the former site of the Wabash College baseball and soccer fields on Tuesday to drop off gravel. Workers have been using bulldozers, surveying equipment, and gravel rollers to flatten the gravel in preparation for laying turf.

“We’ve put in a sub-base and some fabric underneath the top layer of gravel,” Herron said. “This ground is called Mud Hollow, so we wanted to firm it up a little bit.”

In the past two weeks workers have taken advantage of largely dry weather to lay brick for the new soccer spectator stands. The dry weather has also allowed the project workers to flatten out the layer of topsoil on the Eastern edge of Mud Hollow.

Construction crews have been busy throughout the spring at Mud Hollow Field. It’s hard to believe that less than a year ago the Wabash soccer team was finishing its 2010 season on the grassy field just east of what is now the former baseball field.

Work will continue throughout the summer at Mud Hollow Field. The new soccer stadium will be on the western (right in photo) portion of the field, while eastern half house grass practice fields along with throwing areas for the track and field team.

Crews have spent the spring leveling the field and cutting into the hillside next to the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house. The base structure for the new soccer stadium stands is in place, and according to project manager Mike Strolle addition cement for the restrooms located next to the stands should be poured within the next 10 days.

Stone is being applied this week to create a drainage base for soccer field, which will eventually be covered with a new FieldTurf Pro soccer-specific surface. Top soil has been put in place on the eastern half of Mud Hollow Field and sod will be installed in the coming weeks practice space and areas for intramural competition. The southeast corner of the field will provide throwing areas for track and field practice and meets.

“We are planning to begin the turf installation toward the end of June,” Strolle said. “Despite the storms in April and May, we’ve been able to continue working throughout the spring. Work will continue throughout the summer to have the facility ready by the start of the fall school year.”

The new baseball stadium located behind the Knowling Fieldhouse is getting closer and closer to completion. The new scoreboard was put in place over a week ago, and fencing has been added behind home plate. The batting cages behind the right field wall are ready for the first outdoor practice. And if you take a moment to walk the field, look carefully and you’ll find all second base is in its post and ready for the first double of the season.

This mound of dirt currently sits where the center of the new soccer pitch will be located.

The new baseball stadium is not the only area that has drawn the attention of the construction crews during the blustery January work weeks. Mud Hollow field no longer has the signature backstop with WABASH COLLEGE painted across the red wooden expanse. The old baseball dugouts, and event the old familiar storage shed have all been torn down in preparation for the new soccer stadium that will be built this spring and summer. Crews have torn out the hill just east of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house to make way for the new stands for soccer fans to view the game. The dirt from the hill will help level Mud Hollow for both the soccer field and the new practice and intramural fields that will be locate on the north-eastern edge of the complex.

A view of midfield at Hollett Little Giant Stadium with the new red "W" now in place.

Work continued over the weekend on the FieldTurf at Hollett Little Giant Stadium. Matt Sanchez and his crew shaved and glued the giant — and I mean giant — red “W” at midfield Sunday morning. Today the crew will finish gluing the red “WABASH” logo in both endzones before starting the infill process. Once the sand and little black rubber pellets are in place and the finishing touches are applied over the next few days, the field will be ready for the 2010 Little Giant team.

Work is progressing on the new baseball stadium, as well. A marker is in place to designate home plate and four cement bases for the backstop have been poured. Both the first base and third base dugouts have also been defined, and will be slightly below field level. A photo album of the baseball stadium progress will be posted by Tuesday morning.

With the arrival of the freshmen class, the finishing touches nearly complete at the football stadium, and classes set to start Thursday morning, the 2010-2011 school year is underway.

The wrinkles remind the average observer that Field Turf is a lot like carpet.

Howard W. Hewitt

- Work continues in the stifling heat at Hollett Little Giant Stadium. Workers have been laying turf down around the main playing field which is covered.

One of the more noticable highlights will be the coaches’ box and side field lines which are a bright white. Workers were laying turf on the visitor’s side of the field Friday morning with the other three sides yet to come.

Matt Sanchez, the project foreman for Field Turf, said Monday the project takes about 14 days. After five days of progress, it’s easy to see how the labor-intensive project takes that long. The field hash marks have to be cut and sewn in along with all of the lettering.

Field work behind the Allen Center at the baseball field seem largely concentrated on drainage Friday.

Howard Hewitt – Aug. 9, 2010 – Workers from Field Turf arrived early Monday morning and for the first time since early summer left showing green on Hollett Little Giant Stadium.

The five-yard wide pieces of turf will start going down at a faster pace tomorrow. This morning workers finished marking the field and transporting all of the rolls of turf to the field making them ready for installation.

Mark Sanchez, the foreman in charge of the Wabash College installation, talked about how the process works.

The sight of green over the gravel was enough to lure several onlookers including Head Football Coach Erik Raeburn, Athletic Director Tom Bambrey and other school officials.

When the project is complete, we’ll have a very cool time-lapse video to show most of the construction – start to finish – which has been headed up by Media Center Director Adam Bowen and his summer intern Adam Phipps.

Friday Update - There isn’t much news today on the football field construction front. A crew is removing the ramp that allowed heavy machinery to move over the running track. The scoreboard is about 80 percent complete with some trim and signage yet to go.

What we did learn this morning is the FieldTurf crew is putting finishing touches on a field installation in Michigan and expected to arrive Monday morning to start on Hollett Little Giant Stadium. The turf is here, the field is ready for installation.

Kyle Bender ’12 – Turf arrived Thursday morning around 9:00 a.m. Check back often to see extended coverage of the progress over the next few days.

The preseason 24th ranked (by D3Football.com) Little Giants open the season on Saturday, September 11 at home against the College of Wooster.

Kyle Bender ’12 – The grade inspector came and went Wednesday and the crew was given the go ahead to proceed with laying turf!

The turf company requires the field’s grade be inspected before delivery and as final inspections were being made in the afternoon, the turf was in transit from an Indianapolis warehouse.

Battling heat reaching upper 90s, the crew spent most of Wednesday working on the new scoreboard. A support beam was welded for the message board located under the clock. For a look at the day’s progress, click here.